Who am I?

Originating from the landlocked and flat prairies of Canada, I serendipitously ended up on the path of a marine biologist studying corals of the Great Barrier Reef at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. My PhD project aims to develop an eco-evolutionary model of coral thermal tolerance in the context of thermal anomalies caused by climate change (see my Research tab for more info).

My primary supervisor is Prof. Sean Connolly, a Researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, as well as A/Prof. Mia Hoogenboom in the ARC Centre for Coral Reef Studies and Prof. Madeleine van Oppen at the University of Melbourne and Australian Insititute of Marine Science.


Research Interests

I started as a behavioural ecologist, but now focus on evolutionary questions at the population level using mechanistic models in R. Ultimately, I hope to combine aspects of both behaviour and eco-evolutionary modelling to better predict population and community responses to anthropogenic climate change. 

The ultimate question I am interested in with my thesis work is:
Will coral reef evolution be able to keep pace with climate change?
For more information, check out my Research tab!

​If you are interested in collaborating on a project or seeking a statistics consultant, fee free to contact me!
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Ink'd!
Upon dissecting cuttlefish, take care to avoid nipping the ink sac!
Past Research Experience

I completed my BSc (Hons.) at the University of Manitoba in my hometown of Winnipeg, Canada. Here, I was fortunate to work on multiple research projects and work with many amazing researchers.

Prof. James Hare supervised my Honours project on Richardson's ground squirrel ecology, stress physiology and communication. I also travelled to Newfoundland, Canada to conduct fieldwork with Prof. Gail Davoren's lab, evaluated Bayesian vs. frequentist methods for estimating low-data matrix model parameters in Prof. Darren Gillis's lab, conducted radioimmunoassays for blood corisol levels with Prof. Gary Anderson's lab, and conducted microsats for lamprey population genetics in Margaret Docker's lab. 

After my Honours, I began a research-based MSc at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada with Profs. Maud Ferrari and Doug Chivers. My MSc project examined how aquatic prey such as fish and tadpoles communicate predation threats using aquatic chemicals. I also interned in the Groupe Mémoire et Plasticité Comportementale/l'Université de Caen-Normandie in France with Prof. Ludovic Dickel.


Coding and Teaching Experience

I have 8 years of experience coding in R for data analysis and statistical modelling. I currently tutor first year statistics in R at JCU as well as introductory modelling. I am a chair and repeat presenter for the JCU CodeR-TSV coding club, and have previously been an instructor for the Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation's (QCIF) Software Carpentry R course, delivering R to researchers throughout Queensland.